Orange County’s
median home price in March 2015 is $585,000, a decrease of $6,500
since the previous month’s median and an increase of $5,000 since
the previous March. Despite the drop in home prices experienced
in January and this March, Orange County home prices have been
steadily increasing and are expected to continue to increase as
interest rates remain low and the summer buying season begins.
Yet, Orange County may face a shortage of qualified buyers as
a lack of wage growth and high cost of living keep some families
from purchasing and instead push them into other markets.

Apartment rental rates in Orange County have seen strong year-over-year growth
since 2012 and continue to climb to new heights in 2015. The Orange
County average rental rate in April 2015 increased slightly to
$1,891 – yet increased by $199 compared to the previous April,
and had a higher average than any single month in 2014. On a per-city
basis, Irvine and Santa Ana had the highest year-over-year growth
($522 and $361), while Orange saw the smallest increase ($33).

Orange County Building permit activity in October 2014 hit landmark highs with
1,892 permits granted during the month. March 2015 brought modest
permit growth, with 547 new permits recorded in the county for
the month. Anaheim and Irvine represented the two cities with
the highest amount of new permits recorded during the month of
March 2015 at 116 and 101, respectively.

Orange County’s median home price is compared to other regions, showing
the year-over-year and month-over-month change in value.

Source: Dataquick

Average
Apartment Rents Orange County and by Major City

This indicator shows the average apartment rent for major Orange County
cities and for the county average as a whole. The county average as a whole
is not the average of the seven cities shown in this chart but for all the
cities in Orange County.